Washington DC (UPI) Dec 28, 2021
NASA's Juno spacecraft is preparing for a close flyby of Jupiter's moon Io, which scientists hope will lend insight into the structure of the volcanically active moon. Juno is expected to pass within about 930 miles of Io's surface on Saturday. During the flyby, Juno will use three instruments to examine the moon. "The pass is expected to allow Juno instruments to generate a fire

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 28, 2023
Today, SpaceX is scheduled to launch the USSF-52 mission using the Falcon Heavy rocket, with liftoff planned for 8:07 p.m. ET from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This mission is a collaborative effort between Space Systems Command (SSC) and SpaceX, aimed at advancing the U.S. Space Force's capabilities in space. The mission has faced delays leading up to today'

Beijing (XNA) Dec 27, 2023
China launched a Kuaizhou 1A carrier rocket on Monday morning from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwestern Gobi Desert, placing four satellites in orbit, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp said. The State-owned space contractor said in a news release that the solid-propellant rocket blasted off at 9 am and placed four satellites that are part of the Tianmu

Beijing (XNA) Dec 27, 2023
China launched two satellites into orbit on Tuesday morning for its Beidou Navigation Satellite System, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office. The satellites were carried by a Long March 3B rocket that lifted off at 11:26 am from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province and were deployed into a medium-Earth orbit. They are the 13th group of third-generation Beid

Washington DC (SPX) Dec 27, 2023
Research on the International Space Station is helping scientists to understand how fire spreads and behaves in different environments and learn how to prevent and extinguish fires in space. Combustion investigations contribute to the safety of crew members, equipment, and spacecraft by guiding selection of spacecraft cabin materials, improving understanding of

Paris (ESA) Dec 27, 2023
Wrapping presents is all part of the Christmas experience - here's a notable example from ESA's technical centre ESTEC. This is the ESA Young Professionals Satellite, YPSat, seen fully wrapped in multi-layer insulation blankets, exactly as it will be when it launches aboard the inaugural Ariane 6 mission next year. YPSat is a project run in its entirety by ESA Young Professionals to give t

Wenchang (XNA) Dec 27, 2023
The Long March-7 Y8 carrier rocket, tasked with sending China's space station cargo craft Tianzhou-7 into orbit, was transported to the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan on Thursday. The rocket will undergo assembly and testing together with Tianzhou-7, which arrived earlier, the China Manned Space Agency said on Thursday. At present, all testing syst

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 27, 2023
In a recent advancement in China's burgeoning space program, a Long March 11 carrier rocket was successfully launched from the South China Sea on Tuesday morning. This launch, which took place off the coast of Yangjiang in Guangdong province, marked a significant milestone as it sent three experimental satellites into space, as reported by the state-owned conglomerate China Aerospace Science and

Perth, Australia (SPX) 2622, 2023
Analysis of organic compounds - called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) - extracted from the Ryugu asteroid and Murchison meteorite has found that certain PAHs likely formed in the cold areas of space between stars rather than in hot regions near stars as was previously thought. The findings open new possibilities for studying life beyond Earth and the chemistry of objects in space.

Washington DC (SPX) Dec 26, 2023
This photo of Saturn was taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope on October 22, 2023, when the ringed planet was approximately 850 million miles from Earth. Hubble's ultra-sharp vision reveals a phenomenon called ring spokes. Saturn's spokes are transient features that rotate along with the rings. Their ghostly appearance only persists for two or three rotations around Saturn. During active